Ka pēhea te pānga o te huringa āhuarangi ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara?
How will climate change impact Wellington?

Wellington is exposed to a range of climate-related challenges, and they will affect our communities in different ways.

The changes Wellington is experiencing – more intense heatwaves, droughts, and extreme weather events – are the new normal. These will affect all aspects of the world around us, including our environment, economies, and ways of living.

What happens in the future depends on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions made globally. The faster we can reduce emissions right now, the better chance we have at limiting the most extreme impacts.

Did you know by drastically reducing our emissions now, we are more likely to avoid the worst climate change impacts.
 

Environmental impacts

A 2019 NIWA report on climate change extremes indicates Wellington city and the greater Wellington region will experience:

  • more intense and frequent weather events
  • coastline changes and flooding due to sea level rise and storm surge
  • more unpredictability around our water supply and agricultural areas.

Wellington Region climate change extremes and implications (10MB PDF) – Greater Wellington

Temperature

Rainfall

Flooding

Wind

Sea level rise

Native animal and plant life

Drought


 

Economic impacts

Climate change will also impact us financially, across many aspects of our current economic systems.

The cost of climate change

Disruptions to supply chains

More expensive insurance

Repairing and protecting infrastructure

 

Social and cultural impacts

Climate change will have an uneven impact on different communities.

As climate change puts greater pressure on resources and economies, it magnifies the already challenging issues around social justice, equity, cultural knowledge, and generational divide.

Low-income and marginalised groups most at risk

Impact on tangata whenua

Younger generations bearing the brunt

What you can do

Explore the climate action you can take to help Wellington become net zero.

What you can do about climate change